Happy Thanksgiving to all! We have a feast of great articles from the week on Photofocus.
Leading off is Julie Powell with her take on Xpozer prints, followed by a great review of two micro four-thirds wide-angle zooms from Bryan Esler. Next up is the crazy idea for photographing stars with telephoto lenses from Levi Sim. Amid controversy about the viability of Olympus’ camera business, Bryan Esler counters with the new lens roadmap from this venerable camera maker. The Wrap-Up wraps with the answer to “Why does color cast matter?” from Kevin Ames.
All of us at Photofocus wish you a great Thanksgiving/Cyber Week.
Welcome to Xpozer, a new way to print and hang your images - Welcome to Xpozer, a new way to print and hang your images. I was recently asked to look at and review Xpozer printing and framing system, which claims to “Make Photography Awesome…” “We created Xpozer as an elegant solution to the challenges of hanging large photos. Our Vivid Satin print material and Forever Frame are engineered to fit together. Like your camera and your camera lens. Without one or the other, you can’t do anything. With both, your photography will never be the same.” Many photographers, especially the keen amateurs and enthusiasts take many photos but don’t always get them printed. Even the pro photographer, whilst they may get photos printed for clients, but not so much for themselves. Everything seems to remain digital, online and on social media. Let’s be honest that is NOT where great photos really come to life. There is nothing quite as thrilling as seeing your photos printed and hung on the wall. Xpozer promises to make it quick, easy and awesome, with easily interchangeable prints. There are a couple of videos on their website that show how it comes packed and how to assemble it all. The idea is that you re-use the frame, which can be changed to fit different sized prints, and you just change the print out as often as you like. Xpozer states it prints exclusively on a custom-made Vivid Satin photo material, giving your photos a stunning gallery look for a fraction of the cost. While with the Forever Frame, you can hang one great photo after another and it uses patented tension-spring technology to keep every print hanging perfectly. Picking an image So while Xpozer website is easy to use, the hard part becomes a decision of WHAT to print. Firstly decide where you wish to hang it and consider the size of the area and your decor. Having a couple of options is a great idea so you can periodically swap images. I loved the idea of capturing some fantastic landscapes from our recent holidays, so I dove into my catalogue to decide what would look good on the wall. I am ordering the Large size print, these are seriously large prints at 30-by-45 inches. Plus, I am ordering two frames as well. It’s OK — I have a large wall we have been meaning to display our photos on. What better way to achieve this than now? I really like these images, two from Tasmania and two from Kangaroo Island, I believe the colors should work well in our decor. Xpozer suggests the following as a minimum for the large size prints; Minimum resolution: 80 pixels per inch File type: PNG, JPEG or TIFF (no RAW, no PDF) Max. file size: 100MB (mostly between 10MB-30MB) Color space: sRGB or AdobeRGB As these are going to take up a rather large piece of wall, I am going to aim for a higher resolution (without resizing the image) to 120ppi, which puts my images at around 17-20MB. I also recommend going over your image carefully before sending off. Check for halos, sensor spots and errant objects you never noticed before. These may be hard to see on your computer screen, but might be glaringly obvious in large print. Try enlarging your image and checking in a grid pattern. Uploading your images This is really quite easy, visit Xpozer.com and select the size you wish to print (I used Large, 30″ x 45″). Then select Upload and load your images, from where you have them stored on your computer. I found it to be very quick, but that would depend on your internet speed. Finishing up Once all images are loaded go to your cart and add shipping and payment details. Payment can be made via PayPal, credit card and a few other options. If loading your images takes a while you can always click Continue Shopping. Within minutes of completing your order, you should receive an email from Xpozer stating your order has been received and will be processed shortly. Now it’s time to sit back and wait for the magic to happen. I will update you in another post, once images have arrived and I can hang them!
Battle of the ultra-wide micro four-thirds lenses: Panasonic vs. Olympus - When I switched to micro four-thirds a couple of years ago, first with Panasonic and now Olympus, I knew one of my first lenses would be an ultra-wide. I had two options — a Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 or an Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens. For someone who typically shoots wide just for landscapes and the occasional well-lit room shot, I figured the Panasonic version would serve me just fine. The lens was super light and had a great field of view. The 7-14mm is similar to a 14-28mm view on a full-frame camera, meaning I was able to see a TON that my other lenses just couldn’t pick up. Panasonic Ultimately, I had to put my Panasonic 7-14mm lens to the test, photographing Christmas lights downtown. I was asked to provide a wide view, so my idea was to capture a long exposure that highlighted not only the Christmas lights on the trees but also the tail light trails. While the photographs were crisp, there was definitely a problem. Major lens flare. It was not something I had seen much of while photographing during the day. Or even at night, when the light wasn’t directly facing the lens. For 90% of my use case, it worked as expected, and was a great lens. But as soon as I had light facing the lens, a lot of lens flare appeared. I don’t mind a little lens flare, but having green and blue lens flare on a building, or on the wood pieces below, really jumped out to me as something that shouldn’t be there. I was able to edit out the lens flares, but it took quite a bit of time and adjustment in Photoshop to get it right. Olympus After the lens flare issue with the Panasonic wide-angle zoom, I tried the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens. This lens was quite a bit larger but it had a slightly wider aperture at f/2.8. It had the same field of view as the Panasonic. It was just heavier and bulkier. But more importantly, the lens flare issues I had experienced with the Panasonic nearly disappeared. I was able to create a crisp photograph without having to do a ton of flare retouching work like I had to do with the Panasonic lens. While lens flares aren’t completely gone from the Olympus lens, they’re much, much more manageable. After testing it out, I decided to return the Panasonic lens, which was luckily still within its return grace period. The Olympus lens has certainly served me well, and it’s one of my favorites for landscapes!
Are you crazy? You can’t use a long lens for stars! - Wondering what to get the photographer on your list who has “everything?” Take a look at the Photofocus Holiday Shopping Guide for gift ideas and links. Prices start at under $25. Wanna test your tripod’s stability? Don’t mess around with hanging from it and doing pullups like the sales guys do at trade shows. All you have to do it try to photograph the stars and you’ll see just how wobbly your tripod can be, especially if you use a telephoto lens. Now, most folks are using wide-angle lenses to photograph all the stars, and most tripods can handle a wide-angle long exposure. But when you use an 800mm lens, everything changes. Why use a long lens for stars? Last year I was camping with the fam at high elevation at Seven Devils Lake in Idaho. It’s an incredible place with the craggiest peaks you’ve ever seen, mountain goats, and crystal clear waters. But the most memorable part of the trip was when a neighboring camper set up his telescopes to look at the moon and the stars and invited us to have a look. I knew I was looking at planets in the sky with my naked eye — they’re brighter and more steady than the surrounding stars. But I peeked into that telescope’s objective lens and just about lost my mind when I saw Saturn and his rings. This wasn’t a fancy telescope, either. In fact, I looked at its specs and realized that my Vanguard spotting scope has more magnification. Since then, I’ve used my own scope to view Saturn’s rings, and this summer I even saw moons around Jupiter for the first time. Pretty incredible. The other day I noticed that Saturn and Jupiter are currently pretty close together in the sky and near the horizon at sunset. That means one could photograph them and have a foreground; pictures of stars on their own without foreground are less interesting. I have Leica’s 100-400mm lens for my Lumix G9, which is the equivalent of a 200-800mm on a full-frame camera. Using a long lens to photograph large planets allows them to appear large in a picture. Four wheels are better than three legs I’ve got large, steady tripods that do a great job when I want to photograph the stars. But, they are more complex to use than simply placing the camera on top of the car. The car is huge and steady. Plus, you don’t have to take up room in the car with a big tripod. I’ve tried using rolled-up sweatshirts, beanbags, backpacks and all manner of things to support the camera on top of the car, but there’s nothing simpler to use than a Platypod. When I put it on the car, I use the silicone pad from the Multi Accessory kit to keep it from sliding (or scratching the car after it gets covered in dust from the dirt road up the mountain). ‘Tis the season Fall and winter are a terrific time to photograph the stars. The sun sets early so you don’t have to be out really late. Jupiter and Saturn show up shortly after dark so you can include a foreground in the exposure. You’ll get cold, crisp nights with very clear skies, and you can stay warm in the car until your shot lines up. The next time I do it, I’m going to mount my camera directly to the spotting scope and see what I can do. Get out there this season and try some nighttime pictures.
Olympus reveals updated lens roadmap for 2020 - A week after addressing rumors that had circulated over the company’s possible sale, Olympus has announced updates to its M.Zuiko Digital lens roadmap. The company highlights several releases in 2020, in addition to the already announced M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO lens. Roadmap additions New to the M.Zuiko PRO lens roadmap is the announcement of the ED 12-45mm f/4 lens. Additionally, the ED 100-400mm f/5-6.3 IS lens has also been added to the M.Zuiko lens roadmap. Both lenses are set to be released in 2020, alongside the 150-400mm f/4.5 PRO lens. An additional unspecified PRO telephoto lens has also been added to the roadmap, pictured below. The details and release date of this lens has not been announced. Existing lenses that were on the roadmap are displayed here as well. These include two telephoto zoom lenses, one wide zoom lens and multiple bright prime lenses, ranging from 10mm-60mm. The announcement comes in response to the company stating they had several plans for future camera and lens releases. In a statement to Photofocus, the company said “[We] have already established a clear and exciting product roadmap for the coming months and years. We are actively pursuing future technology developments that will enhance photography and video for creators.” Black Friday deals In addition to this announcement, Olympus is also starting several Black Friday specials beginning today, and running through Tuesday, December 3, 2019. A few highlights are as follows: OM-D E-M1X: Originally $2999.99, now $2599.99 OM-D E-M1 Mark II: Originally $1699.99, now $1299.99 OM-D E-M5 Mark III kit with 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II lens: Originally $1799.99, now $1499.99 TOUGH TG-6: Originally $449.99, now $349.99 17mm, 25mm, 45mm f/1.2 lenses: Originally $1199.99, now $999.99 Ready to get shopping? Check out these deals and more in our Holiday Shopping Guide!
Why does color cast matter? - Color cast is everywhere. Take a photo of a snowscape on a sunny day. The snow is blue, not white because it reflects the color of the sky. So this color cast is OK. What about the bride in the sparkly white dress on a beautiful grass lawn? Is green the color she wants in her gown? On her skin? White balance A white balance setting that doesn’t match the light in the scene is an extreme example of colorcast. Consider a sunny scene with the white balance set to tungsten or incandescent. It’s way too blue. The same goes for a daylight WB setting inside. The result is a very yellow colorcast. For the most part, the white balance settings in our cameras get us fairly good results. A day with bright sun shining through thin clouds looks OK with a daylight balance. The true color the camera sees is bluer than daylight, but not by much. Certainly, it’s not enough difference to see with our eyes. How we see color Our brains know what white looks like. When we view a scene, our mind does an auto white balance based on white objects we see. Our vision does this without conscious thought. This 20-second video shows how we adjust for color change. At some point, the light on the coffee cup will become warmer in 100ºKelvin steps. When do you see the cup becoming yellow? Taming color cast Drastic changes in color are easy to see when a photo with the correct color is available. Move the slider on the photo below to see the difference between the correct color balance, daylight white balance on the camera with 5500ºK light and the 3000ºK light that appears at the end of the video. It’s a big change. The best way to tame color cast is to use a color reference that has absolutely neutral patches like the ColorChecker Passport Photo 2. Clicking one of the gray patches with the White Balance tool in Lightroom immediately makes the color neutral. Tools used for the color temperature video Canon 1DX Mark II Sigma 25-105mm f/4.0 DG OS HSM Art lens Really Right Stuff 3 series tripod Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2 Illuminati IM-150 light and color meter Luxli Cello RGBAW LED lights (2) Color is a matter of taste The opening photo is daylight color balanced. The snow and ice floes in Turnagain Arm outside of Anchorage are blue because they are lit by the super blue sky. The photo below has the blue color cast removed. Technically, it is a more accurate version. Aesthetically? That’s a creative decision. Photography except where noted: ©Kevin Ames
